Unlikely Peers

[The Way of Distraction - VI ]

People like us that are unwilling to continue with the way things are must look in the mirror, all alone, and confirm that we indeed are part of the solution. We indeed are willing to risk. We indeed are willing to do the work that it takes for tomorrow to be different.

But the road forward is paved alone.

We need comrades. We need teammates. We need peers.

However, if you think your peers will come from the ranks you come from, you’ll likely find yourself alone. If you are looking for peers across the office, on the other side of the classroom, or in the other department across the hall, you’re going to come up empty handed.

You are on the front edge, the precipice, the tip of the spear of change. The work you are supposed to do is exactly that: work you are supposed to do. You have the gifts. You have the insight. You have the audacity. And that means you’re likely feeling alone and isolated. Because you are! That is part of the definition of innovation—being out there where no one else is but believing everyone ought to be.

When you’re alone, you’re easily distracted. Or, you’re an easy target for distractions.

You need support. You need peers to resist the distractions. Those peers, dear friends, are likely where you least expect them. If you are in manufacturing, you may find your peers for innovation in the art scene. If you’re in the restaurant business, your peers might be in the extreme sports world. If you’re in ministry, your peers might be in tech.

The best antidote to distractions is finding unlikely peers that share a concern for the same change but from a completely different vantage point.

Fight the demons of distraction together, as an unlikely team of unlikely peers.